


confidential

by pomegranateboy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Confusion, Field Trip, Multi, Panic Attacks, Peter is a Good Boyfriend, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), THIS IS NOT IRONDAD LIKE I USUALLY WRITE, THIS IS STARKER, Tony Stark Has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, also, and like 18 in this fic, can't believe i have to say that, he's 17 in canon for gods sake, like a weird sort of character study i guess, may and pepper are married, not at all illegal, peter gives him hugs, peter is unamused, this was really just made to explore a dynamic im not used to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 01:59:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16075973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pomegranateboy/pseuds/pomegranateboy
Summary: everyone at si calls peter confidential because they're not even allowed to know his name, so what happens when he takes a field trip there?the field trip trope but starker





	confidential

Peter was, undeniably and unequivocally, bored. He had nothing to do at all. He didn’t have any homework to finish, he had completed all of the projects that he had been procrastinating, and Tony still wouldn’t let him mess with his suit by himself. Tony didn’t seem bored though. He had been working on tons of different projects for the last few hours, things for both SI and Avengers tech. Peter could have asked him if he could help, but he got caught up staring at the beautiful man working in front of him.

“Do I have something on my face?” Tony teased, surprising Peter out of his trance-like state. Peter’s face went pink and he ducked his head slightly. “Cute.” Tony said softly, but loud enough for Peter to hear, making his face heat up more.

“You’re nice to look at.” Peter mumbled under his breath, smiling when he saw Tony’s face light up and then soften at his words.

“You’re not so bad on the eyes either, sweetheart.” Peter coughed and straightened at Tony’s comment, the older man smirking in response.

“I’m bored.” He stated simply.

Tony blinked, “You are surrounded by some of the most advanced tech in the world, and you’re bored?” He asked incredulously.

Peter shrugged, “Tech that you still won’t let me play with.”

Tony rolled his eyes and went back to his work, effectively ignoring his younger lover. “Give me something to do!” Peter whined, saddling up behind Tony and putting his arms around the man’s waist. Tony relaxed into the touch, and shivered when Peter started mouthing at his neck.

“You are a menace.” He could feel Peter’s smile against his skin.

“You know, some of us have work to do.” The statement became more of a whine as Peter started lightly sucking and nibbling at the skin below Tony’s ear.

“I’m, sure you can put me to work, can’t you?” The implications of his statement clear.

“Yes I can, run this down to lab 12B please.” Tony said, holding out a tablet with a blueprint on it.

Peter sighed and stepped away from the man’s warmth. “Only for you, Tony.”

Peter grabbed the tablet and headed towards the elevator. “FRIDAY will lead you there if you don’t know where it is!” Tony yelled to Peter as he walked away. Peter flipped Tony off over his shoulder as he got into the elevator, but was too distracted looking at the blueprint deciphering what it’s function was to hear the older man laughing at him. It seemed to be a device that could be used to quickly and efficiently read the levels of chemicals in water to deem if it’s safe to drink or not.

Peter noticed that a lot of the materials used in the design could actually be pretty expensive, especially over time through the mass-production they would likely go through. If they traded those materials for some inexpensive, but still just as functional materials, then the device could become more readily available and inexpensive to the people who really needed it. He’d talk to Tony about that later. Before he even realized it, he was on a different floor, and FRIDAY was leading him to the lab.

Surprisingly, he had never been in any of the actual SI labs, he was only ever in Tony’s lab with him or in the living areas, so this was going to be a new experience. “Thanks, FRIDAY!” Peter said cheerfully as he walked through the door to the lab. The set-up was not unlike Tony's lab, but it was a lot more crowded, fitting a lot more work stations. Tony was the only one who worked in his own lab, so he could use a lot more of the space provided. In this lab, there were probably a dozen people who used the space. All of them stopped when they were doing when Peter walked in.

“I was told to bring down these blueprints, but the design could be made much more inexpensive if the materials were altered. I'll talk to him about that, though.”

Peter handed the blueprints to the closest technician, who took it hesitantly, and started looking around the lab.

“Ooh, prosthetics!” Peter said, walking us to the nearest work station to where one of the holotables was projecting the image of a prosthetic leg in the progress of being designed. Peter stared at it for a moment, “You know, if this bolt on the knee were a few centimeters higher than the leg could bend more fluidly like a normal leg could.” Peter adjusted the bolt and ran a quick simulation to make sure he had it right, looking satisfied when it bent perfectly.

“The same could be said about the ankle joint, having the bolt on the outermost areas of the ankles would be unrealistic for human anatomy, placing then closer to the inside would make it much more efficient.” He adjusted the bolt quickly, smiling again when the short simulation he ran worked out. He hadn't even realized that everybody was staring at him. “So I'm assuming you guys work on early development tech? Seeing as the prosthetics line has only been talk for a couple months and all.” Peter's hands moved as he talked, eyes alight with curiosity as he looked around at all the developing tech around the room.

Finally, one of the technicians snapped out of his shock. “Yeah that's what we do, anyways who the hell are you?”

Peter looked surprised and went to respond, but before he could even open his mouth the sound of a car horn went off, scaring everyone in the room. “I'm sorry, but you do not have to proper clearance to question him.” FRIDAY said cooly, the slight tilt of her accent giving away her amusement at her scaring them. Peter snorted and rolled his eyes. Leave it to Tony to make information on Peter classified. Tony “Dramatic Bitch” Stark. He thanks you to use his full name.

A slight buzz of his watch that would have been indeseptible to a normal human notified him that Tony needed him back. Peter took one last look at the cool tech around him, nodded appreciatively, and turned heel to leave.

“I've gotta get back, but it was nice to meet you guys! Honestly, I'll probably come back sooner or later, this lab looks super cool. See ya!” Peter left, leaving a group of confused scientists and technicians in his wake.

“Can I see the list of interns? With ID pictures as well please.” Sara Withers asked later that day. That kid had come into their secure lab with blueprints and had fixed a problem she had been working on for weeks in a minute. Then FRIDAY has refused to let them even ask for his name. Lee Brennan looked at her, confused at the sudden interest in the other interns. They didn't question it though, and forwarded her the list. After a minute, Sara groaned, “He's not on the list.” She mumbled under her breath.

“What's going on?” Lee asked hesitantly. Sara looked frustrated, and a frustrated Sara is a scary Sara.

“There was this kid, well he wasn't really a kid but he was pretty young, and he came into our lab today out of nowhere and delivered some blueprints. Then he takes one look at the prosthetic leg I'm working on and fixes an issue I've been working on for weeks in less than a minute!

“Ralph obviously asks him who he is, but Stark's AI interrupts and says that we don't have the clearance to question him!” Lee blinked, slowly processing the information that was just slung at them in rapid succession.

"Uh, I'll keep an eye out for him?”

Sara nodded her head firmly, “Thanks, I appreciate that. We still on for lunch?”

The kid started showing up everywhere after that. He was in labs at random hours of the day, walked into the cafeteria the grab a snack while other employees are eating, and often worked on the projects in whatever lab he's in at the time. He quickly created a reputation of himself as a genius, thinking of ways to fix problems that labs have been working on for ages in just minutes, fixing code and programming, and even helping with the more business oriented aspects of Stark Industries, fixing a problem that legal was having on one memorable occasion. But nobody knew his name. Lee had taken to calling him “Confidential” and it had just stuck. (Tony just about bursts a lung when he found that out he laughed so hard.)

One day, Confidential burst into a secure meeting that the R&D department was having with Pepper Potts and everyone collectively thought, ‘Finally, we're going to get some answers.’ When Ms. Potts saw Confidential, her eyes light up in a way that nobody in that room had ever seen before and she smiled a genuine smile.

“Hey Pepper!” Confidential said, smiling as usual.

“Hi!” and she doesn't say a name, “What are you doing here?”

Confidential looked bashful, “Well I was at the park today and there were a bunch of fancy show dogs there and man, Pep, one of them had the exact same hairstyle as you. I had to get a picture so I could show you.”

Some of the people in the meeting rolled their eyes at Confidential and his childish antics, until Pepper Potts gasped and smiled widely. Obviously just as excited to see the dog as Confidential is to show her the dog.

Confidential rushed over to her and showed her the picture on his screen, at which Ms. Potts cooed and smiled softly. “You're right, that looks exactly like my hair!”

Confidential nodded excitedly “Doesn't it?! Anyways, I just thought I'd share that with you.” He took a step back from where he was standing right behind Ms. Potts.

She smiled up at him, “Send that to the others, okay?”

Confidential let out a huff, “Already did, Tony's already changed your contact photo and Rhodey's planning on framing it.”

“Who are you, kid?” The man at the front who had previously been presenting asked. He looked seriously annoyed at being interrupted.

As usual, FRIDAY lets out a random noise, this time the sound of a cartoon gun going off, and interrupts. “You do not have the proper clearance to question him.”

Both Confidential and Ms. Potts roll their eyes and Confidential walked towards the door. “I'll see you later, Pepper!”

The woman smiled back, “Bye, have fun on your date tonight!” Confidential blushed and Ms. Potts smirked as he mumbled quietly and waved her off.

-

“Mr. Parker, do you have somewhere to be?” Ms. Warren asked in a terse manner. Peter jumped, attention snapping from the clock to her stern face.

“No ma’am.” That was a lie, he was was going home to Stark Towers after school today to see Tony. He had been in Japan for the last two weeks and had gotten back just this afternoon. They were planning on napping together, which shows exactly where they were with their relationship.

“As I was saying, we have a field trip planned for this Friday. The company we're visiting is prestigious and I want to be invited back next year, even if none of you are.” Some people snickered, but it was mostly quiet. “The permission form actually doubles as a non-disclosure agreement, that's how special this Field Trip is.” Heads around the room perked up.

“Drumroll please…” Kids actually did the drumroll for the first time ever, “Stark Industries! This Friday! Get those forms signed this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!” Kids cheered and smiled, but Ned and MJ were falling out of their seats they were laughing so hard. And Peter, Peter just looked dead. Like he had accepted the clutches of death for a second time. Yikes, too soon.

“Well, Penis. I guess your lie is about to be exposed now isn't it. Just admit it Parker, Stark Industries doesn't hire high schoolers, your internship is fake!” Flash, who was sitting behind Peter and couldn't previously see his face, stopped abruptly when he did see Peter's face. Before that moment, Flash didn't understand when people said someone had a dead look in their eyes. Now, he did. Parker looked just about ready to murder someone, or at least gravely harm them. Flash wisely walked away.

May found the whole thing hilarious. When Peter shoved the permission slip at her when he got to the Tower, she laughed right in his face. “I'm sorry Pete, but how is this your life?” She managed to say between snickers and giggles.

Peter scowled, “Shut up, do I have to go?” He asked, sounding like a disgruntled puppy.

May raised a brow, “Are you kidding? Of course you have to go. It would be too suspicious if you didn't go.”

Peter started thinking about ways he could get out of this without May knowing.

“I know your thinking of ways out of this. If you don't go I'll call out of work on Friday and I'll go find your class myself and then you'd really have something to explain. Maybe I could bring Pepper along too.” Peter snapped his eyes to May's mischievous ones.

“You wouldn't.” He whispered, to which May just smirked.

“Fine! I'll go! Just keep your wife as far away from me as possible.”

May pouted, “Pepper would be hurt if she heard you say that.”

Peter rolled his eyes, “Everyone I know thrives off of my misery and I deserve better that this.” May snorted as she signed the slip, handing the pen over to Peter so he could sign his own name.

“Will that be all, Mr. Stark?” May said teasingly.

“That will be all, Mrs. Potts.” Peter responded in the same tone. They loved poking fun at their respective partners.

Before Peter got to his and Tony's room, he called Pepper. “Hello, Peter.” She answered in a knowing tone.

Peter rolled his eyes, “Mrs. Potts.”

Pepper snorted and Peter leaned against the wall in the hall. “What do you need, Peter?” Pepper asked teasingly. They all really do thrive off of his misery.

“I need to know if you planned this.” Peter stated firmly.

“You caught me, I thought it would be funny. I promise I didn't know that your class would be chosen to go though.” Peter relaxed, feeling slightly better.

“What are you going to tell Tony?” Pepper asked, sounding almost bored.

Peter tensed again, “Oh no. Tony cannot know that I'm going to be here. He will freak out and then embarrass the shit out of me. You know how he is!” Peter almost whined.

Pepper laughed, “Okay, I promise not to tell him, and I'll do my best to make him as busy as possible that day. You know how he is though.”

When Friday came, Peter gets dropped off at the school, only to get back onto a bus that's going to take him right back home, only to go back to the school and then get picked up again to go home. It really was just a waste of time. On the bus ride there, he started freaking out. He had absolutely no clue what was going to happen or how the hell he was going to explain his clearance level or everyone knowing him. Shit this was going to be a mess with the whole Confidential thing.

When they were a couple minutes away from the tower, Ned peeked his head over the seat in front of Peter and MJ leaned around the seat to stare at Peter. “You look miserable.” MJ commented bandly.

Peter looked her dead in the eye and raised a brow slowly, “Wonder why.”

Ned snickered and MJ smirked. “This is great, Peter! Just think about it, now Flash won't be able to say anything.”

Peter rolled his eyes, “He won't be able to say anything because of the NDA, and, oh yeah, because I'm literally SI's best kept secret. At least that's what Lee said.”

Stark Towers was a beautiful building, the architecture outstanding; sleek and modern. The rest of the students, those who didn't come here literally every day, oohed and ahhed. Peter kept to the back of the group, planning to do so the entire trip on the very slight off chance that he won't be seen or recognized.

“Last chance to tell everyone you're a liar, Penis. I won't hold it against you.” Flash said, sidling up next to him with a wolfish smile. Peter looked him dead in the eye, turned on his heel, and moved the stand next to Ms. Warren, who was more strict about bullying than some of the other teachers.

Of course, with Peter's amazing Parker luck, Lee was their tour guide. Lee, who Peter ate lunch with, who Peter liked to visit when he had the time, who once lent Peter their super comfortable sweater and never even asked for it back. Lee, who Peter would call his friend.

“Good morning! Welcome to Stark Industries! My name is Lee Brennan and I'll be your tour guide today. Before we do anything, you all signed your NDA form, correct?”

The group made a unanimous noise of agreement. “Great!” Lee said smiling excitedly, “In a minute you'll be getting your badges, but before you do let's go over the clearance levels.” Oh shit. “SI uses a colour and number system. There are 5 colour and 2-4 numbers within the colour. The lowest level is white 1, which is reserved for the lowest level tours. Because you guys got one of the rare special tours, you'll be getting white 3, which is the highest of the white level. Most low-level interns have white 3. The levels are white, red, blue, grey, and then gold.

“The highest possible clearance is gold 2, only two people have that clearance. The second highest is gold 1, which two people have as well. Our CEO, Pepper Potts, has gold 1 clearance.”

Some people made noises of surprise. Confused as to why Pepper didn't have the highest clearance. Peter knew that technically there was no difference between the two, but that his and Tony's clearance opened Tony's lab while Pepper and May's opened Pepper's office. Technicalities.

Cindy raised her hand and Lee called on her, “Who has the other gold 2 clearance if it's not Ms. Potts?”

Lee hesitated, “Well that's kind of a long story, and I'm almost certain that you don’t have the clearance to know that…”

Everyone looked like that was the coolest thing they've ever heard. Peter wondered what they would think if they knew it was Peter who had the other gold 2 clearance. The receptionist, a very nice woman named Shauna, called Lee over and handed over a basket of white clearance cards and a tablet. Lee took them happily and then returned to the group. “Okay, I'm going to start calling out your names so you can come up and get you cards. Keep them visible at all times, our head of security is very picky about that. If it's not visible or you lose it, you will be escorted out of the facility.”

Now that the students looked thoroughly spooked, Lee continued. “Rose Allen?”

Slowly but surely, everyone was getting security cards. Peter could hear them marveling over them and he wanted to roll his eyes; white clearance cards are made of a pretty cheap material because of how many had to be made. MJ got her card and was staring at it disdainfully.

When she caught Peters eye, she explained, “This material doesn't look recyclable, and with how many are made it's gotta be hell on the environment.”

Peter smiled, “Actually, they reuse the cards for every field trip. So instead of making thousands over time, they made a couple hundred for every level. And the cards that get damaged are melted down to remake them.” MJ looked almost surprised, but also satisfied.

When Ned got his card, he stood next to Peter and started glancing between Peter and Lee, not even trying to be subtle about it. After Lee called Kevin Oaks, Peter could see their brow furrow from across the room.

“Peter Parker? Our system says you already have a badge, where's Peter Parker?” The crowd went silent and everyone, including Ms. Warren, looked back at Peter. When Lee saw Peter, they gasped to loud that Peter was surprised that they didn't start choking. “What the hell!” Lee yelled, making Peter wince.

“Hey Lee, I have my card.” Peter said sheepishly, pulling out his card from his back pocket and pulling it over his neck. Comparatively, his badge was beautiful. It was the same sleek and unbreakable glass the Stark phones were made out of. The edges were totally gold and the only thing on it was a fingerprint scanner the activated and deactivated it.

Peter placed his thumb on the scanner and the glass flashed blue a couple times, a light from across the room flashed along with it, right above the private elevator. The pass worked with the Tower, the Compound, all of Tony's houses across the world, and could even get him in the quinjets. Peter could tell that everyone was staring at him as he adjusted it over his chest.

“You're a high school student. Oh my god. What the hell, Confidential?!” Lee gasps again, “Confidential, oh no I know confidential information, Tony Stark is gonna murk me.”

Peter rolled his eyes (again), “No he's not, he just likes being dramatic.”

Lee doesn't look convinced and the rest of the class just looks confused. “I swear to god, if I get fired because of this, I'm blaming you because I wasn't even trying to find out who you are.” Peter snorted and nods.

“I'm sorry, what's going on?” Ms. Warren asked, likely voicing what everyone was thinking. Lee obviously didn't know what to say to the question and looked to Peter pleadingly.

“I told you about my internship, didn't I?” Lee gave him a look that said ‘bullshit, you don't have an internship, you basically run the company when Potts isn't around’. Peter thought it impressive that they could portray that all in just a look.

Though they gave him that look, they didn't say anything and continued explaining the basics while they filed into the elevator. In on of the rare moments of silence as they rose to the next floor, FRIDAY spoke up, scaring the rest of the class.

“Hello Peter, you're here early. Why aren't you in the private elevator like you typically are?”

Peter came close to straining something he rolled his eyes so hard. “I'm on a field trip and I think you know that, FRIDAY.” Peter responded snappily.

FRIDAY made a non-committal hum, “Should I let boss know you're here?”

Now, Peter freaked out. “No, don't you dare. He cannot know that I'm here, Fri.” Everyone is staring at him, but he didn't care.

“Oh,” FRIDAY said, pretending to sound surprised, “Well enjoy the rest of your tour then.”

Peter signed and his shoulders released from where the were stuck by his ears. The rest of the elevator ride was silent as everyone wondered what the hell was going on.

The pattern continued throughout the day. Someone would spot Peter, call him Confidential and ask for help, and then freak the fuck out when they were told that he couldn't help because he was on a field trip with his high school class. The only time he almost went to help when someone from legal rushed over to him and asked for help with some situation.

Peter blew off questions from his classmates with surprising ease and grace. He knew very well how to weasel his way out of answering those questions and always stopped them before they could even finish asking the question. It was as if he was worried something would happen if they finished the question.

Finally, lunch rolled around and Flash, and many others, finally got the chance to confront Peter. Peter grabbed a lunch, seemingly not even paying for it like the rest of them, and not being called out for it.

Flash slammed his bottle of Gatorade on the table, not having a lunch tray for the same dramatic effect. “What the hell is going on, Parker? Are you actually an intern here? You Stark's personal intern or some shit?”

Peter tried to cut him off before he finished the question, but was unsuccessful. Before anyone could say anything, the sound of an alarm clock went off, making everyone jump and some people cringe. 

“I'm sorry, but you do not have the clearance to question him.” FRIDAY said simply.

Peter could hear the smug undertone in her voice, even if nobody else could. Flash gave him an incredulous look and some other people looked at him in awe. Peter shrugged and ate his chips. Everyone that came to question him wisely walked away. Ned and MJ were snickering from where they sat down across from Peter. Peter was just unamused.

Peter got a strange sense of foreboding as they continue their tour. He couldn't help but feel like something was going to go really wrong soon, almost like his spidey-senses was going off, but without the imminent danger aspect. His class was in the intern lab when it happened.

Peter frequented this lab often, he liked to hang out with people more his age that wouldn't hate him for being smarter than them like many of the older scientists did. Lee was talking about what they did in the lab when FRIDAY interrupted, sounding as worried as an AI could.

“Mrs. Potts has initiated Dust Protocol, Gold 2 you are needed.” The air in the room went cold.

The interns knew vaguely of what Dust Protocol was. It had been initiated a couple times while Peter had been around them. Every time, Peter sprinted out of the room looking worried as hell and didn't come back for a long time.

Dust Protocol was for when Tony was having a panic attack so severe that the only thing that could calm him down was Peter. They put it in place after Peter died and came back to life, worsening Tony's already terrible PTSD. All of the interns look to Peter, while Peter's classmates look around wondering who Gold 2 was. Peter quickly took initiative and ran towards Ms. Warren.

“I have to go.” Peter said as he skidded to a stop in front of his teacher.

Ms. Warren raised her brows and then furrowed them, “I can't let you do that, Peter. You can't just leave in the middle of a field trip.”

Peter was desperate, “You don't understand, this is super important, I have to go.”

Ms. Warren looked like she was about to protest again when Lee came up behind her and lightly put a hand on her shoulder. “I'm sorry Ms. Warren, but I think it's best if you let him go. The CEO of Stark Industries just asked him to go, so he should probably go.”

Ms. Warren still looked conflicted, “Fine, but you have to come back and I promise, you'll be expelled if you don't come back when I ask.” Peter nodded, hardly thinking about what that could mean, only thinking about ‘Tony Tony Tony’. “Go.”

Peter rushed out of the room without a second thought and sprinted towards the private elevator, already open for him and already closing before he was totally in. It must be really bad if FRIDAY was this worried. Peter didn't even have to ask her to take him to Tony before the elevator was moving.

The ride felt like it was taking hours when in reality it was much closer to 30 seconds, taking Peter to Tony's lab. When the door opened and Peter rushed out, the first thing he saw was a distraught Pepper, and the second was a sight that made his heart hurt.

Tony was crumpled up in the corner closest to Pepper, in a tight ball where he was muttering and rocking back and forth. Peter didn't hesitate a moment as he ran over to Tony and skidded to his knees in front of him. Finally, he can hear what Tony was saying and, if possible, his heart hurt even more.

“Peter no, come back. Peter please, I can't live without you baby, please don't leave me. Peter, Peter no.” He was having a flashback to when Peter had died.

Tony's chest was rising and falling in staccato, slightly wheezy due to his damaged lungs. Peter knew better than to try touching Tony right now, Tony wouldn't register the touch as friendly and he would lash out, and then feel really bad later when he finally came back around. So, Peter started talking. It started with him talking about his day, talking about how nervous he was for the field trip and how it wasn't as bad as it could be, about how he was grateful that the rest of the Avengers lived upstate now. Then he was talking about science and about a project that he had been thinking of starting up.

Tony was slowly becoming more aware as Peter digressed into talking about how much he loved Tony.

“You're eyes are so beautiful, they're like dark chocolate and whisky. You have such nice eyelashes too, I don't know how, but they're so dark and long and they frame your face so prettily. Your brain is so outstanding too, you're the futurist, you create so much and love so much and it's so beautiful to just watch you work.” Tony's breathing had mostly calmed and he was now totally aware of his surroundings.

“Can I touch you?” Peter asked quietly. Tony gave a small nod without hesitation and Peter quickly gathered the older man in his arms. Tony wrapped himself around Peter like an octopus and tucked his head under Peter's chin; Peter wrapped his arms around Tony in return and he kissed the top of the brunets head. Slowly, Tony stopped shaking and crying as he fell asleep in his lovers lap.

“Fri, could you get Pepper back in here?” Pepper had left when Peter arrived, knowing that if was best to leave the two of them until is was safe. After a second, Pepper walked back in cautiously.

“How is he?” She asked, staring at the billionaire sympathetically.

“He'll be okay.” Peter said in lieu of a proper answer to the question.

Pepper nodded firmly, accepting it for how it was.

FRIDAY interrupted a second later, “I'm sorry Peter, but your teacher is asking that you return to the group. She is threatening expulsion.”

Peter tensed, having totally forgotten about the field trip. He cursed under his breath and then looked to Pepper for help. She was worrying her lip between her teeth, having forgotten about the lipstick she was wearing. “You'll have to go down there.” She said regretfully and Peter huffed quietly.

“I can't leave him, if he wakes up and I'm not there the panic attack is going to come back full force and probably be even worse this time.” Peter whispered as he said this, not wanting to wake Tony.

“Take him with you,” Peter's eyes snapped to Pepper's, “I'll get you out of the field trip, but you'll have to go down there. I can deal with whatever fallout happens, but I just need you to take care of your boyfriend.” 

Peter nodded in agreement as he stood up, lifting Tony carefully and resting him against his chest, the older man's face pressed into Peter's neck.

Slowly, as not to disturb the sleeping genius, Peter and Pepper made their way to the elevator, and it automatically descended, taking then back to the intern lab.

Pepper exited the elevator first, Peter trailing behind her as they make their way through the short hall leading to the lab.

“Shhh.” Pepper hushed as she walked through the door, all of the interns shut up and stopped working, and the class that had previously been talking quiets. There were a few gasps at seeing Pepper though. They gasp again when Peter walked in, holding Tony Stark in his arms. Pepper hushed them again before they could make too much noise.

“Hello Midtown, I hope you've had a great tour so far,” Pepper whispers loud enough that everyone could hear her, “I would like to remind you that you all signed an NDA, so you cannot speak of anything you saw today.” She looks pointedly back at Peter. “Ms. Warren, we will be keeping Peter here for the rest of the trip.”

Ms. Warren hesitates, “I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that, he needs his guardian to sign off on that.” Pepper looked only slightly annoyed, but she respects that Ms. Warren was just doing her job.

“FRIDAY, May took the day off work, correct?” Pepper asks, looking to the ceiling.

“Indeed, would you like to to call her down?” FRIDAY asked, her volume low. Pepper nodded.

Just a minute later, May Parker came rushing into the lab. “I heard what happened, is he alright?” May asked Peter, who nods shortly in response. May ruffled his hair affectionately and moved to stand next to Pepper, spinning her arm around the woman's waist. “Ms. Warren, it's nice to see you. Seeing as Peter and I live here and, technically, my wife also has legal authority as a guardian to Peter, we'll keep him for the rest of the trip.”

Ms. Warren nodded slowly in return, shocked just like the rest of the people in the room.

There was a small groan and everyone freezed, slowly turning to look at Peter. “Peter?” Tony asks groggily, unaware of his surroundings.

Peter smiled softly, “Hey handsome, how are you feeling?”

Tony sighed, “My lungs hurt, but you're warm. Why aren't we in bed?” The older man tucks his head under Peters chin, not even opening his eyes.

“We'll go there now, okay? Then we can order pizza from that place you like for dinner and rewatch old Disney movie, does that sound nice?”

Tony hummed happily, “Anything with you sounds nice.” His speech is slurred slightly and Peter placed an affectionate kiss on the top of Tony's head.

Peter looked up at Ms. Warren expectantly, and it takes her a second to snap out of her stupor, but once she does she gives a short nod to Peter and he leaves the room, mumbling words of love to the sleepy man in his arms as he goes. May kisses Pepper on the cheek and leaves as well.

“Well that sure was something.” Pepper sighed after a beat of silence. As if that was the opening of the floodgates, everyone started talking. The interns amongst themselves and the kids to anyone that would listen. Pepper let's them talk for a second before she motions for FRIDAY to quiet them. A loud beep rings out and continues ringing until everyone had shut up.

“Thank you, now if you could quiet down, I could answer some questions. Now remember, this information does not leave this room. We have the best lawyers in the world on our side and you cannot win.”

Everyone looked hesitant to ask anything, but one short girl raised her hand timidly and asked, “So Peter doesn't have an internship here?”

Pepper sighed, “Technically, no. Though he is known throughout the building for helping anyone and everyone with their work.” The interns behind Pepper just nod along. Surprisingly, Flash doesn't even look smug at the information.

Nobody looks like the know what to ask next, so Pepper just talks for them. “Peter used to be personal intern to Tony Stark, but he quit when the two of them fell in love. Now, Peter lives here with Tony. They're gross and domestic and they have movie nights and date nights and Peter helps when Tony has panic attacks, like he did earlier.” A few of the students and interns aww at the story.

“What was that with his aunt though?” Cindy asked.

Pepper's face softened, “May Parker and I have been dating for while and we recently got married. She lives here as well, which is why she was available to excuse Peter.”

Pepper’s watch made a noise and her eyes widened when she saw what was on the small screen, “Sorry, if you'll excuse me there seems to be an issue in accounting right now.” She strides out of the room with purpose, leaving a shell shocked group in her wake.

After a moment, “Yes!” Lee yelled, looking ecstatic. They strode over to a whiteboard that was propped against a wall and flipped it. On it were dozens and dozens of names and numbers next to each, as well as a box labeled ‘Winner’. They grabbed a marker and wrote their name in the winner box, and turned around with a sharp smile to the rest of the interns. They looked terrified.

“Get the word out, I won.” Lee said coolly. The interns scattered, leaving behind a near empty lab.

“What was that?” Ms. Warren asked, looking at Lee who was positively glowing.

“That was me winning $2,175 in our office betting pool.” Lee smirked as everyone gaped at them, “Almost everyone in SI has been betting on who Confidential was, or Peter. Whatever his name is. Almost everyone was getting that he was Stark's secret love child, but I was the only one in the entire company who thought that they were actually in a relationship.”

Throughout the rest of the tour, people would come up to Lee and begrudgingly hand them cash, or telling them that they transferred money over to their account. Lee smiled smugly every time. By the end of the tour, their pockets were practically bursting with cash, and someone even walked up to the carrying buckets of coins, just of of spite. Lee look it with a smile on their face, saying the money was money.

The bus ride back to the school was almost silent.

“Wait, how did Parker hold up Tony Stark without breaking a sweat?”

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are appreciated!!! also if you think i unknowingly made pepper like tony's in-law, you're dead wrong. i am very aware and i think it's hilarious.


End file.
